memeorandum: Shield law faces hurdles in Congress (Lisa Lerer/The Politico)

9:20 AM ET, July 23, 2008

Top Items:

Joe Klein / Swampland:

McCain Meltdown — John McCain said this today in Rochester, New Hampshire: … This is the ninth presidential campaign I've covered. I can't remember a more scurrilous statement by a major party candidate. It smacks of desperation. It renews questions about whether McCain has the right temperament for the presidency.

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, Althouse, The Moderate Voice, The Anonymous Liberal, Stop The ACLU, Ben Smith's Blogs, Blue Girl, Red State, Soccer Dad, Riehl World View, Marc Ambinder, Rising Hegemon, AMERICAblog News, The New Republic, Liberal Values, Hullabaloo, Balloon Juice and Liberty Street

CBS News:

Obama: Surge Doesn't Meet Long-Term Goals — In An Exclusive Interview With Katie Couric, Illinois Senator Defends Position On Troop Buildup … Katie Couric: Sen. Obama, first of all, you have not been to Iraq since 2006. What did you learn on your recent visit that surprised you? Or what was new?

Discussion: Political Machine, Outside The Beltway, NewsBusters.org, Gateway Pundit, QandO, Marc Ambinder, FOX Embeds, Political Punch, Hot Air, American Spectator, Fox News, TIME.com, Commentary, Confederate Yankee and RADAMISTO

Washington Post:

Mr. Obama in Iraq — THE INITIAL MEDIA coverage of Barack Obama's visit to Iraq suggested that the Democratic candidate found agreement with his plan to withdraw all U.S. combat forces on a 16-month timetable. So it seems worthwhile to point out that, by Mr. Obama's own account …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Hot Air, Firedoglake, Commentary and Rising Hegemon

Spencer Ackerman / ATTACKERMAN:

History Rears Up To Spit In Your Face — diggs — digg it — Dear press corps, — Please recognize that this is completely f**king wrong. … The colonel in question is now a one-star general, and his name is Sean MacFarland. He was commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, The Jed Report, A Newt One, Hullabaloo, The Daily Dish, The RBC, The Political Carnival, Think Progress, D-Day, Taylor Marsh, RADAMISTO and DownWithTyranny!

Ilan Goldenberg / democracyarsenal.org:

Not a Gaffe: A Fundamental Misunderstanding of Iraq — John McCain made a mistake this evening, which as far as I'm concerned disqualifies him from being President. It is so appalling and so factually wrong that I'm actually sitting here wondering who McCain's advisers are.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Foreign Affairs, Buck Naked Politics and The Moderate Voice

The Huffington Post:

McCain Gets History Of The Surge Wrong, CBS Doesn't Air Footage — During a CBS interview on Tuesday, John McCain made a stone cold error on a subject about which he claims expert knowledge: the “surge” strategy in Iraq. In an interview with anchor Katie Couric, the Arizona Republican said …

Discussion: The Jed Report and Washington Monthly

Matthew Yglesias: McCain's Mixed-Up Timeline

Jed / The Jed Report: John McCain's Neverending War

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
When Is A Withdrawal Not A Withdrawal? — Obama has always talked …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, The Campaign Spot and Major Garrett's Bourbon Room

Gateway Pundit:
Unreal!... Obama Tells Katie Couric the Surge Was a Bad Strategy …

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, TBogg, Macsmind, Stop The ACLU, JammieWearingFool, protein wisdom, Commentary, American Spectator, Liberal Values, IRAQ THE MODEL, Doug Ross, Riehl World View, marbury and Sister Toldjah

Marc Ambinder:
McCain Disputes Obama Account Of The Surge

Discussion: The Swamp, SquareState.net, The Washington Independent, TIME.com and TPM Election Central

National Enquirer:

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS CAUGHT WITH MISTRESS AND LOVE CHILD! — Vice Presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards was caught visiting his mistress and secret love child at 2:40 this morning in a Los Angeles hotel by the NATIONAL ENQUIRER. — The married ex-senator from North Carolina …

Roger L Simon / Pajamas Media:
John Edwards in a Feydeau Farce at the Beverly Hilton

Discussion: DBKP and Gawker

Byron York / The Corner:
Re: Edwards — On the John Edwards story, I do wonder how much …

Discussion: DBKP and Wizbang

Greg Mitchell / The Huffington Post:

“Wall Street Got Drunk”: ‘Banned’ Bush Video Surfaces — An ABC-TV outlet in Houston, and now the Houston Chronicle, have posted a video taken at a political fundraiser for Pete Olson, featuring George W. Bush last week — capturing some embarrassing/revealing moments after, he noted, he had asked cameras to be turned off.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Buck Naked Politics and The Political Carnival

Miya Shay / Houston Political Blog:

What did Bush say at Olson Fundraiser? — The President's folks didn't let the press in, but we got some exclusive video of POTUS talking up a storm at Pete Olson's fundraiser on July 18th. Click and take a look. transcript below the video. — What President Bush said:

Discussion: On Deadline, Burnt Orange Report and Balloon Juice

Jules / Beltway Confidential:
Bush: Economy was “drunk,” now “hungover”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Andy Barr / The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:
Bush on Economy: ‘Wall Street Got Drunk’

Discussion: Think Progress and The LA Times President …

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

Obama Meets Israeli and Palestinian Leaders — JERUSALEM — Senator Barack Obama opened a day of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday, sharing breakfast with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak before traveling to the West Bank to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Discussion: The Caucus, Real Clear Politics, TIME.com and FP Passport

Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs:
VIDEO BUMBLING OBAMA: “RECOGNIZING THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE”

Discussion: Israpundit

Katie Fretland / The Swamp:
Obama: Israel's a friend of Israel

Discussion: The Sundries Shack

Kelly Moeller / Political Punch:
Obama Wants To Be Absolutely Clear on Who Is Israel's Friend

Discussion: Israel Matzav

Patrick Ruffini / The Next Right:

Obama Campaign Prints German-language Flyers for Berlin Rally — This is pretty extraordinary. A candidate for the American Presidency is using flyers printed in German to turn people out for his campaign rally in Berlin on Thursday. This flyer can be found on a bilingual page on BarackObama.com advertising the event:

Discussion: Dr. Melissa Clouthier, The Huffington Post, protein wisdom and Gateway Pundit

Major Garrett / Major Garrett's Bourbon Room:
Obama Advisers Squirm About Berlin Speech

Discussion: The Campaign Spot, QandO and www.redstate.com

Paul A. Gigot / Wall Street Journal:

The Fannie Mae Gang — Angelo Mozilo was in one of his Napoleonic moods. It was October 2003, and the CEO of Countrywide Financial was berating me for The Wall Street Journal's editorials raising doubts about the accounting of Fannie Mae. I had just been introduced to him by Franklin Raines …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Don Surber, The Volokh Conspiracy and PrestoPundit

Bruce Alpert / New Orleans Times-Picayune:

GOP candidate to meet with Jindal — WASHINGTON — Mystery continues to surround Republican presidential hopeful John McCain's plans to interrupt a tour of battleground states today for a visit to New Orleans and a meeting with Gov. Bobby Jindal. — Campaign officials confirm that McCain …

Discussion: TIME.com

Mark Halperin / TIME.com:

HALPERIN'S TAKE: What John McCain Needs to Win — What McCain needs to win: — Stuff he can't control: —For Obama to make a substantive mistake on his overseas trip that changes the vector direction of the coverage — especially while he is in Israel.

Discussion: Blue Girl, Red State